Cotcot-Lusaran dam ADB feasibility study underway

CEBU, Philippines -    A feasibility study for a second dam in Cebu will start by the second quarter of 2011.

This, as the Asian Development Bank is finalizing the list of consultants to conduct the study on the possibility of another dam at the Cotcot Watershed area.

General manager Armando Paredes of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District said that ADB granted technical assistance worth USD1-million for the project.

Paredes said that the future water supply of Cebu will rely greatly on surface water because we have already exhausted the ground water sources.

Aside from the Cotcot Watershed, MCWD also eyes another dam at the Lusaran area which feasibility study will immediately follow after the Cotcot study shall have been completed.

Paredes explained that they will need more dams to continue responding to the demands of the metro.

Currently, Cebu only has the 100-year old Buhisan Dam which supplies 5,000 to 10,000 cubic meters of water a day.

The volume is only five percent of the total volume that MCWD supplies to its customers. MCWD only supplies 50 percent of the total demand in Metro Cebu.

When a second dam is built, Paredes said that they hope to increase their capacity to supply the water demand to 80 percent.

The feasibility study is expected to start by the second quarter of this year until next year.

If ADB consultants find Cotcot Lusaran feasible, MCWD will have to find other sources of funds for the construction of the dam.

Paredes explained that ADB’s grant is only good for the feasibility while the actual construction might be sourced from loan agreements.

Based on a preliminary study on Cotcot and Lusaran, each is capable to produce up to 50,000 cubic meters a day.

If all goes well, a second dam in Cotcot or in Lusaran may be realized in three to five years.

The Cotcot-Lusaran river basin is among the critical watersheds of the Central Cebu Protected Landscape. Cotcot river basin drains to towns of Liloan and Compostela while the Lusaran river drains to the towns of Balamban, Asturias and Pinamungahan and the city of Toledo. – (FREEMAN)